Customer Reviews

Thin Places: A Memoir

5 star:		(148)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"Life is messy." My pastor says that often. Most people nod their heads in agreement and then live out their lives, as Thoreau wrote, in "quiet desperation." Few are willing to let others step into their messiness. Mary DeMuth's memoir, "Thin Places," not only allows us in, but draws us into the places where God embraced her raggedy, disheveled, and chronically needy, blessed soul.

The book was unputdownable--from the introduction (which, by the way, was my favorite part!) to the last word. Mary's writing craft is impeccable. Seamless...flowing and clear. An editor's dream. So flawless I could take off my editor hat and be simply an eager reader.

The biggest surprise came when I found myself in the pages of someone else's life. I could relate to so many of the thin places where God met Mary and brought her along and through and over the hurdles and sufferings of her childhood and youth. Those slobbery kisses from over-eager boys. That yearning for a date...for a boyfriend...for fatherly affection. Keeping secrets. Compromising to fit in. Ugh! Those stuffed-down memories that remind us of our insecurities and less-than-stellar decisions. Why go there?

She tells us why: To unmask our humanity--our frailty--and thereby removing the power our messiness tries to hold over us. To reveal the God who sees, who cares, who redeems even the worst of sins and sinners. She exposes her pain--not to gain our sympathy, but to extend her hand as a fellow sufferer who wants our journeys to become stronger for knowing hers.

She succeeds.

Mary DeMuth has written a beautiful Christian memoir. Growing up in the 1970's with her emotionally distant and thrice married mother, the author tries to understand the death of her father and the sexual abuse she endured from local boys. She is heart-breaking confessional in the same manner that Mary Karr was in her memoir "Lit" (without the profanity). She acknowledges her "daddy wound," her emotional neediness, and the parts of her life that have yet to be healed. She examines her painful past in the light of the Gospel. A quick read at 200+ pages, there is much here that will bring the reader back again and again.

"Thin Places" is a painfully honest look into Mary Demuth's past and how her past has colored her life today. As she wrestles with her past and copes with the marks it leaves on her life at present, she realizes God has always been there for her. I have never experienced the kind of pain she has, but we can all identify with her honest feelings of not being good enough, of having to strive harder for God's acceptance. I feel that reading her book has helped me to understand myself and others better than before. Most of all, understanding that God's Love surpasses all of our trials in life.

This woman's story is eye opening and she was very strong and brave to share it with everyone. However, reader beware that she ties every aspect of her life in this book back to Jesus and God usually tying in biblical references and the like. I knew there was a religious note in this book, I didn't realize it would be brought into play every chapter. I currently struggle with my religious beliefs so I had a major disconnect every time the author went there, and she went there a lot. Just a warning to others more like me who may not realize that this is a heavily religious book.

In this Unique memoir Mary DeMuth talks about her childhood filled with pain, suffering, fear and losses. Her mother is married several times. Mary was raped at the tender age of 5 yrs. Having had some similar events in my own young life this re opened some pain for me. It also opened more healing. I love her use of the term Thin Places, where God draws very close. It reminds me of a scene in the book The Shack, where the dad has a thin wall between seeing his dead daughter alive and happy in heaven.

Mary I want to thank you for being so open and honest in telling your story. I do understand how hard that is to share. I had a tragic death in the family the week I got this book and I very much needed to look for those moments of "thin places".

The book is very open and honest about these events and Mary's feelings as they happen. How can a small child understand why God allows bad things to happen to them? How does said child trust God? Well at times they just cannot....but God doesn't stop his offerings of Mercy and love. Mary does find "thin places" in her young life and ongoing as an adult. This book is proof positive that God uses the darkest hours in our lives to draw us closer to Him, be it through pain and suffering or Joy

If you are struggling to find God or are in a difficult space due to current pain or especially child pain I recommend this book. It is not a book telling you what you have to do to find God, no lists of do's and don'ts. It does center on Mary's life after all it is her story. Just to put yourself in her shoes and get out of your own for a while can be very healing indeed.

God is always in control, his timing is perfect. We do not understand this but He does. Read this book with a tender and open mind and heart. God will draw near to you also and you will have a greater understanding about how sweet "thin places" can be. Don't be afraid if you have childhood abuse issues, her sharing is to share healing!

Thanks Mary for being so brave and honest. I'm now always looking for "thin places."

THIN PLACES is a spiritual memoir -- Mary DeMuth's exploration of her childhood rapes and losses and their ramifications in adolescence and adulthood ... and her realization that while she didn't find Jesus until age 15, He has always been with her.

She relates what she calls the "thin places" of her life -- moments of God's presence that nearly erase the distinction between spiritual and physical. Looking back, she finds thin places long before she knew God; looking ahead, she strives to recognize and appreciate them now as they occur. She organizes her experiences as a series of vignettes around incidents and themes -- some heartbreaking; a few veering toward testimony; all empathic and inspiring. Reading them created thin places of my own.

There are difficult, hard places Mary describes from her life in this book, but it is wonderful to see how God met her there and gives life. Honest, moving, funny, thrilling, deep, passionate, and real. This is a keeper.

I like memoirs that are in chronological order and this one is not. This book has themed chapters so the time jumps around. Also almost everything that she writes is from her adult perspective of being saved by God so I never really felt how she was in the moment she was talking about. Its a sad story and its great that she turned out well, but I just didn't connect with the way that the story was written.

With courage and honesty, Mary DeMuth writes of her struggle through numerous childhood traumas including neglect, the death of her father, and being raped at the age of five. Woven in the poignant prose are threads of Mary's sometimes wry sense of humor and glimmers of grace which comes not as a swooping cure-all, but as the ever present and constant guidance of a holy God. In what Mary describes as thin places, she experiences Jesus, his beauty, and his provision for her life.

Although those who've experienced similar abuse will likely find the memoir a place of shared community, there are many chapters with universal themes. In particular, I found the chapter on envy to be one that touched me. Envy of childhood friends who had fancier houses, thinner bodies, and more boyfriends morphed into adult envy of moms with better behaved children, cleaner houses, and spiritual auras that left me feeling inferior. So in many respects, Mary has built a bridge that spans generations and circumstances, letting those who savor her words know they are not alone, no matter what life has dealt them. Well done, Mary.

In "Thin Places" Mary describes a childhood filled with pain and loss. Her struggles include a mother who divorces and remarries several times, feelings of hopelessness and unworthiness, a desire for love and acceptance and childhood sexual abuse. Mary is very open and honest about all these events and about her feelings and responses too them. Does she always respond perfectly? No. She often struggles with feeling close to God and wonders why He allowed so much pain and struggle to enter her life from an early ages. But she also finds "thin places" in a variety of ways and places. These thin places are those times when God breaks through her pain and brokenness to show her His love, heal and restore her, and reveals His power and mercy. Mary is living proof that God can use even the darkest and most painful things in our lives to teach us, restore us, and deepen our faith in Him. I highly recommend this book to anyone who struggles to understand God and feels distant and cut-off from Him due to negative circumstances in their lives. Mary is not perfect, but God always is. I think this book will be like a healing balm for readers who are going through a "dark night of the soul" of their own. I could relate to many things that Mary shared. This book is not preachy and offers no guarantee of instant healing. But it definitely has things to teach. This is a book to be read with an open mind, and more importantly, an open heart. I am glad that I read this book.